Vessel
Seven Indians, Nigerians docked for ‘cocaine importation’
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Friday arraigned seven Indians and three Nigerians before the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court for allegedly smuggling 43.1 kilogrammes of cocaine into the country. The Indians include Shedrack Yurama; Singh Vikash; Kunnaserypallam Ashraf Inzam; Xaiver Fernando Santhanaria; Mandal Surjeet Ashok; Tandel Pratikkumar Pravinbai; and Barthwal Rohan Sunil. Their Nigerian alleged accomplices are Tobi Ojo; Kunle Animashaun and Omozusi Enorose Terry. Also arraigned before the court alongside the defendants was a limited liability company, Oilways Logistics and Energy Limited. The defendants were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful importation of cocaine. The defendants, according to the charge marked FHC/L/100c/2021, were ar...
Senegalese navy seizes 8 tonnes of cannabis resin from boat
The Senegalese navy on Sunday intercepted a boat smuggling over 8 tonnes of cannabis resin through the waters off the West African nation’s coast, the armed forces ministry said in a statement. The vessel, which was flying a Togolese flag, was stopped 140 kilometres (87 miles) from the coastal capital of Dakar with seven crew members on board. After escorting the boat to a naval base in Dakar, the authorities discovered the 8.37 tonnes of hashish split between 279 bags. The boat was also carrying sacks of plaster, the ministry said on Monday. It did not provide a street value for the seized drugs. Earlier this year, authorities in Niger seized 17 tonnes of cannabis resin worth around 31 million euros ($37 million), the largest bust in the country’s history. According to Interpol, drug king...
Sri Lanka launches probe after burning ship pollutes beaches
Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a huge container ship fire that has swamped the island nation’s coast with plastic pollution causing probably one of its worst marine disasters in history. Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country’s famed beaches in Negombo, a popular tourist destination, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been smoldering on the horizon for 11 days after a blaze broke out as it was heading to Colombo from the Indian state of Gujarat. The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday after a complaint was lodged by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority, police said. Last week, authorities said t...
NNPC begins work on Port Harcourt refinery
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has kicked off construction work in the Port Harcourt Refinery rehabilitation project with a firm commitment not to fail Nigerians. A statement on Friday by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr Kennie Obateru, quoted the NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Refineries & Petrochemicals, Engr Mustapha Yakubu, as saying that everything was being done to ensure that the project is delivered hitch-free and on schedule. Speaking at the Technical Kick-off Meeting for the project held at the Port Harcourt Refinery Complex, Alesa Eleme, Rivers State, Engr Yakubu said everything about the project had been carefully worked out to ensure that the target of at least 90% refining capacity is achieved when operational. “I...
Suez Canal reopens after stranded ship is freed
Traffic has resumed in Egypt’s Suez Canal after a stranded container ship blocking it for nearly a week was finally freed by salvage crews. Tug boats honked their horns in celebration as the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given was dislodged on Monday with the help of dredgers. Hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the canal which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It is one of the world’s busiest trade routes. Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch salvage company Boskalis, said the Ever Given had been refloated at 15:05 (13:05 GMT) on Monday, “thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again”. Egyptian officials say the backlog of ships waiting to transit through should be cleared in around three days, but experts believe the knock-on effect on global shipping could take w...
Traffic in Suez Canal resumes after stranded ship refloated
Shipping traffic through Egypt’s Suez Canal resumed on Monday after a giant container ship which had been blocking the busy waterway for almost a week was refloated, the canal authority said. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. Live footage on a local television station showed the ship surrounded by tug boats moving slowly in the centre of the canal on Monday afternoon. The station, ExtraNews, said the ship was moving at a speed of 1.5 knots. “Admiral Osama Rabie, the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), announces the resumption of maritime traffic in the Suez Canal after the Authority successfully rescues and ...
Suez Canal Authority says stranded ship partially refloated
The stranded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week was almost fully re-floated on Monday and has restarted its engines, a shipping source with knowledge of the matter said, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened. The 400-metre (430-yard) long Ever Given has been straightened in the canal and will undergo initial inspections before being moved, two sources said. Video posted on social media appeared to show the ship’s stern had swung around, opening space in the canal. Other footage, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters, included cheering and ships’ horns sounding in celebration. Ship-tracking service VesselFinder has changed the ship’s status to under way on its website. The Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of...
Ebonyi governor: South East benefited more from APC government than PDP’s 16 years
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum weekend, said the South East benefitted more from the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, federal government than from Peoples Democratic Party’s sixteen years of governance. Speaking to newsmen in Lagos through his Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi said the Igbo have had a fair-play under Buhari’s administration in terms of economic and infrastructure development. According to him, the N10Billion Airport rehabilitation, the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway and other infrastructures are pointers to the benefits the South East States are getting from the Buhari administration. “These are indications that this administration is helping t...
Several dead as freight ship sinks off Turkey’s Black Sea coast
A Palau-flagged freight ship has sunk off the coast of Turkey’s Black Sea province of Bartin, killing at least three crew members, according to Bartin Governor Sinan Guner. Guner had said earlier on Sunday that the ship, the Arvin, was a Russian dry freight vessel that sank off the coast of the Inkumu region in poor weather, but later corrected that. “The Arvin ship attempted to take refuge at the Bartin port due to poor weather conditions as it carried cargo from Georgia to Bulgaria,” Guner was quoted as saying by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. The coastguard said the ship had sunk after taking in water amid poor weather. Six crew members had been rescued and efforts were under way to rescue others, it said in a statement. Anadolu said that all of them were hospitalised and were ...
Turkish exploration vessel back in port ahead of EU summit
Turkey’s seismic exploration vessel Oruc Reis returned to port on Monday from disputed Mediterranean waters, less than two weeks before a European Union summit where the bloc will evaluate possible sanctions against Ankara. NATO members Turkey and Greece have conflicting claims to continental shelves and rights to potential energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Tensions flared in August when Ankara sent Oruc Reis to map out energy drilling prospects in waters also claimed by Greece. Turkey withdrew Oruc Reis from contested waters ahead of a previous EU summit in October to “allow for diplomacy”, but later sent it back after what it called unsatisfactory outcomes from the summit. Earlier this month, Turkey said Oruc Reis would operate in the region until Nov. 29. The energy ministr...
Three foreigners, six Nigerians arraigned over hijack of vessel
The Federal Government on Thursday arraigned three foreign nationals and six Nigerians for their alleged roles in the hijack of Equatorial Guinean Vessel, MV Elobey VI. The suspects and employees of Pilgrim Africa Limited were arrested by the Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt following allegations that they conspired and paid 200,000 dollars to a gang of pirates who abducted three sailors. They were accused of facilitating to pay the ransom to the pirates for the release of two Moroccan nationals, Abaamrane Hamid and Chalabi Abdelaziz, and an Equatorial Guinean, Santos Ndong. The defendants were also accused of conveying the hostages to Calabar, Cross River, for onward hand over to the Equatorial Guinean Consul after payment was confirmed by the pirates. They are facing a seven-count charge o...
Navy seizes vessel, arrests five suspects for illegal bunkering in Akwa Ibom
Sundiata Post The Nigerian Navy Ship Jubilee (NNS) on Tuesday said that it has seized a vessel used for oil bunkering and arrested five suspects in Akwa Ibom. The Commander of NNS Jubilee, Commodore Majid Ibrahim, disclosed this to newsmen during the handing over of the vessel and suspects to officials of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Ikot Abasi. Ibrahim said that the vessel was seized during an anti illegal oil patrol by the Nigerian Navy along Uta-Ewa Creek on May 18. “In line with the Chief of Naval Staff’s strategic directive and the need to secure Nigeria’s maritime domain against all forms of illegalities, the Nigerian Navy Ship Jubilee on anti illegal oil patrol arrested MT PREYOR 1 on May 18, 2020 along Uta-Ewa Creek for suspected illegal oil bunkering activiti...
